Mum shares warning following daughter’s terrifying experience inhaling helium from a balloon.

Kathy Fincher Smith‎ shared her message on the Helium Awareness Facebook page to warn other parents of the possible dangers, she wrote in her post:

“The other night my daughters were inhaling helium out of a large mylar birthday balloon to make their voices squeaky.

“I was in the other room and had no idea what was going on. My youngest daughter got a little dizzy and decided to stop and go to their room.

“The 13 year old decided to cut a bigger hole in the balloon and she said she was going to inhale as much as she could hoping her voice would be extra “squeaky” ….

No memory of what happened next

“She doesn’t remember actually inhaling in the helium. She doesn’t remember walking from the dining room into the living room….she doesn’t remember passing out from a standing position and slamming her eye/face/head into the floor.

“Thank goodness she didn’t make it to the hallway where she would have hit her head on the tile…she was still on the carpet. Their Dad heard the thud of her hitting the floor from the bedroom and was on his way to investigate when she woke up and started screaming and crying. This is her eye the next morning…it was completely swollen shut!

“Come to find out my daughter in law has a friend who’s 12 year old daughter died from inhaling helium from a tank at a birthday party. When she passed out they rushed her to the ER…by the time they got her there she was brain dead and died of oxygen deprivation.

“I had no idea how dangerous this was…and I am so surprised the number of other adults on my Facebook who are unaware of the dangers of this as well!!

“When I posted these pictures to my Facebook…the majority of people who responded were genuinely clueless to how deadly this is. I want to start helping spread the awareness any way I can. My daughter was lucky….there are so many that weren’t and my heart breaks for them.”

Dangers of helium

Last year a mum shared her terrifying experience when her nine-year-old daughter collapsed unconscious in McDonald’s after sucking helium from a balloon to entertain her brother.

Kelly Milne said her daughter Daisy was unconscious for five minutes and her eyes were rolling after she slumped to the floor of the restaurant.

Kelly also wanted to warn other parents to be vigilant following the incident.

She said: “When I put a status up online advising what had happened another person commented and said their brother had a similar reaction.”

“Most kids will be doing this to get a laugh about speaking with a high voice but when I saw Daisy’s face I was terrified.”

While Helium is a light colourless, tasteless and odourless gas and is non-toxic, Breathing in too much helium can be very dangerous, potentially choking people due to a lack of oxygen.

Inhaling helium displaces oxygen from your lungs, which can cause dizziness, falls and even suffocation.

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